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Monday, 30 December 2013

If you are looking for a frugal kitchen cleaner that is toxin and chemical free....you wouldn't believe how easy (and cheap) it is to make!

I'm not a total neat-freak (come on....my house is lived in 24 hours a day 7 days a week!), but I am a little obsessed by germs and making sure they are dead...you would always find a bottle of antibacterial spray dousing my kitchen worktops after every meal!
So despite wanting to make the switch to something more natural, it took me a little while to actually do it!
I knew these anti-bac sprays are no good for our long term health, and wanted to provide a healthier, safer environment for my family.....so when I found a recipe using vinegar and orange peel it looked so pretty in the picture I knew I had to give it a go!

Its so easy to make, and all you need is:

White Vinegar

Water

Orange peel

lemon (optional)

Essential oil (optional)

So find a large jar or container and fill with around 1/3 white vinegar and 2/3 water (I'm guessing here! I just eyeball what looks good!.....if you want specific measurements there are plenty of ingredients lists online).
Add left over orange peel, a few drops of essential oil (I used orange) and let it soak for a couple of weeks!
I had a lemon that was turning past its best, so I squeezed out its juice and sliced to add a bit of extra zing and cleaning boost!

After a couple of weeks its quite hard to believe this liquid was once white vinegar and water because its drawn out all the orange extract it now looks like juice!

Strain all the peel and pour into an empty spray bottle and you a ready to go!

It has a strong unsweetened citrus scent...a huge improvement on the vinegar stenched work surfaces that are left when using just vinegar and water alone!

Not a bad product I have to say and costs literally pennies to make!

I defiantly feel more comfortable letting the kidos clean up after dinner.....if only they would just wipe the table the way I like it done! ......sigh!

What D.I.Y products have you made and tried? Drop a comment below.....I need more ideas!

Saturday, 28 December 2013

Meal planning isn't only for the routine obsessed! Putting together a basic menu plan actually has a number of benefits; the two most important being both time and money saving!

Okay so you will need to sit for a minute or two to jot down your weeks dinners...but those couple of minutes can save you heaps of time you'll claim back, as you no longer need to stand in front of your cupboards in a frizzle, deciding what you can throw together!
Also, saving you time grocery shopping as you don't need to go up and down the aisles (or clicking back and forth between online departments!) trying to mentally menu plan as you shop!

Not to mention the financial gains as knowing what you will eat ahead means you only put in your basket what is needed....rather than any thing that grabs yours (or the kids!) attention as you get side tracked by those special offers....which really are not so special!

So, you're not quite ready for super-charged military style homeschool organisation......yet at the same time, trying to run away from chaos filled days not knowing where to go and what to do?
.....Well, you have come to the right place!

Trying to re-charge my batteries, I've pulled out a couple of things from the previous homeschool planner to attempt to rejuvenate some spark and sense of direction to my lil home school!

I've said many times before, I can't do full-on organisation - mainly because I can never stick to a regimented schedule, however at the same time, taking each day as it comes and going with the flow means there really is "no flow" to our learning endeavours - I need a balance of something in the middle. Something that will give me a sense of direction, but yet is flexible enough to allow for daily moods and to-dos.

Introducing the Home School Planner with 2014 calendar......flip through the embedded pages below for a quick peak! (note: preview is not complete organiser)

There is nothing too rigid about this planner, just a simple homeschool mission statement to remind you why you chose to homeschool on those days when you need inspiration and a reminder of why you do!

Some very basic, simple lesson planning sheets - just to serve as a gentle guide to what direction lessons are going in, and even a nice personal planning page for Mum! ......all too often we are rallying around everyone else 24/7 we seldom remember to put in time for ourselves.....if Mum is happy and chilled.....everyone else is happy and chilled inshaAllah....so make some time and add in some personal planning too!

The pages have been designed to allow you to print as many of the planning sheets as you require for each of your children / subjects. You may want to work out how many you may need for the whole year and print off in one go to allow you to bind and give yourself a reall planner to work in - or your may prefer to print as you go, adding to a standard ring-binder. ......whatever works for you!

***Edit!
I have added further sheets to the file, including "Boredom Buster" activity lists and meal planning for time saving and budget keeping! The above link has been updated.

I'd love to know what you'd want from an organiser / planner? Perhaps I can incorporate suggestions into a new design in the future inshaAllah! Drop a comment below!

Saturday, 14 December 2013

I'm going through a period of home-school chaos....so to attempt to align back some sense of structure and routine (...without being too rigid) I've put together a quick weekly planner to jot down some basic scheduling and weekly objectives.

I've tried so many times to go "free" and take each home schooling day as it comes.....but I think I am figuring out that for me and my kids, we do need a little structure and basic routine to our week.

I can't do the super-mom boot-camp style organisation.....we all end up in tears, but nor can I keep up with the chilled out free-style mom either because we are just not getting much done!

We need something in-between.....or at least I feel we do right now anyway. So, this is my next attempt to straighten out our schooling endeavours inshaAllah!

The idea is to have a basic "road-map" of what the week ahead will look like; what objectives or goals we'd like to meet in different subject areas inshaAllah.
Its not meant to be a rigid plan of action that is set in stone, but rather something to help put a little basic organisation into the schooling week inshaAllah.

If our goals are not met, its no big deal, we can carry them onto next week inshaAllah. We just need something to help give us direction, instead of slowly plodding along stuck in a home-school rut, not knowing where to go next!